I did a little browsing around to see who was selling these on the classifieds. The ones to stay away from are the ads who are currently selling the "Spot-Legged Turtle" which is selling wild-caught R. punctularia, "Central American Wood Turtles" selling wild-caught R. pul. incisa, "Guyanese" Wood Turtle (they must have discovered a new species...mmm don't think so) selling wild-caught R. punctularia. The safer ones to go with are the three selling captive bred specimens. One is selling R. funerea the Black Wood Turtle. This is the largest of the Rhinoclemmys, has the same AQUATIC habitat as I had mentioned for R. punctularia, and grows to about a foot in length. In other words you need a good bit of space, preferably outdoors when applicable. The second one is selling captive bred R. pul. incisa which I had described in the previous post as well. The final captive bred or born of this genus is the Necaraguan (a new country and species of turtle was found I guess) These hatchlings could either represent R. annulata the Brown Wood Turtle, which they appear to do by their more flattened carapaces. This species is terrestrial, living in lowland rainforests. Or it could be R. funerea the Black Wood Turtle as previously listed. Both being Nicaraguan residents.

Since you are new to the genus I would wait until you can find an add for captive bred hatchlings of either R. punctularia (Spotted-Legged) or R. pul. manni (Painted or Central American). The Black Wood is a great species but you must be able to accomodate its large size. A fully filled in 12 inch turtle needs a lot of space.

I appreciate you doing your homework before purchasing one of these species and realizing that you will be getting a much nicer and healthier turtle buy holding out until you get a captive bred specimen.

Good luck.

-JG

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